1. How careful was I when I took my way,

2. Each trifle under truest bars to thrust,

3. That to my use it might unused stay

4. From hands of falsehood, in sure wards of trust?

5. But thou, to whom my jewels trifles are,

6. Most worthy of comfort, now my greatest grief,

7. Thou, best of dearest and mine only care,

8. Art left the prey of every vulgar thief.

9. Thee have I not lock'd up in any chest,

10. Save where thou art not, though I feel thou art,

11. Within the gentle closure of my breast,

12. From whence at pleasure thou mayst come and part,

13. And even thence thou wilt be stol'n, I fear,

14. For truth proves thievish for a prize so dear.

A Prize So Dear

Dedication: To Elizabeth

Complaint of that his use of Henry will stay unused and a clear expression of Oxford’s dissatisfaction at the way Elizabeth regards his “jewels” as “trifles”.

1^st Quatrain: (1-4)

Carefully alluding to Henry as the trifle in line 2. Alluding to Henry never seeing the usage that Oxford wished in line 3. Alluding to Henry going first to the Wriothesly's and then ending up in wardship in line 4.

2^nd Quatrain: (5-8)

Telling Elizabeth that his jewels (Henry) are/is of little value to her. That Henry went from this helpless child to now his ultimate disappointment. Telling her that her best and his only care is so uncared for in lines 7 & 8.

3rd Quatrain: (9-12)

Contrasting his treatment of her and telling her he has kept her captive though she is precious in lines 9 & 10. Except to tell her further that he has kept her in his heart and that she may come and go from here in lines 11 & 12.

couplet (13-14),

But he tells her that possibly she may be stolen still because he says facetiously, that prizes of such worth are apt to prove to be falsely treated.

Commentary:

First there is the discussion of that which the poet wants, his use of that thing and the mention of that thing as expected to be unused along with falsehood and the mention of the sure wards of trust with the exclamatory nature. Then the mention of the those things as the poets jewels being but trifles to the subject should be of immediate understanding to those now familiar with the subject matter of these poems. These are not either accidental metaphors or a mere analogy but are actually meant to depict what has transpired and the damage done by the subject. These ties back to the wrongs both committed and referenced in the early sonnets along with mention of the thievish behavior mentioned in this sonnet along with the all important truth which remains untold presumably for the “prize so dear” and which has yet to be won.

This sonnet is a metaphor description of the poet’s life and struggle to have Henry recognized. The notion of the single prize is a clue of the single theme of both the sonnets and his life. The mention of the vulgar thief harks back to the crime committed in 58 and the sweet thief of sonnet 35 to come. Line 9 plays on the important metaphor of Henry locked in chest to which he tells Elizabeth that he has never treated her this way.

A contrast with the notion that this is written to the youth while he is also the prize hopefully should reveal the problems associated with an orthodox understanding. That there is no indication of the subject and the “prize” of this poem being one and the same should reveal that it is not I who am inventing meaning for these poems. And in fact I feel that interpreting this poem in such a manner is contrary to what any reasonable reader would do. It is only something grown of necessity and orthodoxy that such and interpretation could actually exist.

Vendler interprets the treasure as the love/subject, who is free to come and go. While she says the couplet reflects that “ordinary thieves are not the only danger, every passerby, no matter how honest, turns to a thief for a prize as valuable as the beloved. She also believes that the poem offers the paradox that less valuable things are locked up while the real treasure of the beloved is not. Thus the poet is in effect saying that “compared to thou my jewels are trifles”. However what the poet is really saying is that the subject regards his jewels (Henry) as “trifles”. And he is also contrasting his treatment of his Elizabeth to her treatment of Henry.